From Winnipeg to Calgary and beyond!

I have been living in Calgary for about four weeks. Here are some aspects of Calgary that I’ve noticed and learned:

- If Winnipeg was a river moving at 60 kph, Calgary would be moving at 90 (or more!).

- Because of the fast pace of this city, the people here love to fill their time with many different activities. Its normal for people to be buzzin around stayin busy!

- Everything is more expensive here.

- People make a lot more money here.

- Because people are more comfortable (because of the hightened standard of living), they have more time to be worried about social pressures. For example, it seems like people in Calgary really care about their general image. The every-day stresses of life – like trying to make a buck to pay rent – which generally cause people to overlook things like beauty and comfortability are minimal issues for most Calgarians. Therefore, they have more energy focused on internally analyzing themselves and everyone around them. This concept seems intangible and irrelevant, but, trust me, it is an element of life that makes living here much different than Winnipeg.

- There is a large Caucasian majority here (everywhere you go there are A LOT of white people). This reality gives Calgary a very “homey” sort of feeling. My friend, Brian, said that Calgary has an old school “country” feeling despite the fact that its a huge city. He associated this phenomenon with the Caucasian majority.

In Winnipeg, there are a few substantial minorities which gives the city a diverse feeling. Winnipeg often felt aggravated or dangerous because it seemed like the different minorities were continually gasping to hold onto their traditions and, at the same time, create a livable society within the culture that Winnipeg had already established.

On the contrary, Calgary seems more unified and accepting. – Of course, all of my views stated here come from a Caucasian perspective. But hey, this is my blog and it’s relevant to me! I’m sure Calgary feels MUCH different for the minorities, but i’m not too worried about that right now…

- Calgarians love to “OWN” every thing they do.

For example, I ride an old school Bianchi road bike around town. It’s old, somewhat rusty, and somewhat ugly. When I go out to ride, I wear my every day clothes, I’m usually wearing my Winnipeg Jets hat under my helmet (In Winnipeg, no one wears helmets. But we didn’t have to worry bout huge hills and huge trucks – driven by stressed out maniacs – driving into us as we hapily rode around town – so helmets were generally unpopular and uncool), and I could care less about having extra accessories for my bike (except for a back light because the COPS pulled me over and reamed me out for not having one. So, now that I have one, I won’t get a ticket).

On the other hand, your average Calgarian has the sickest 12-24 speed road bike, all the bells and whistles attached to it, the one piece racing suit, the most expensive helmet, etc. This is just one example of how Calgarians – though choosing to simplify their lives by riding a bike to work instead of driving a car – go above and beyond materially and financially in every situation.

Despite all of my thoughts, ideas and opinions of Calgary, I love it here so far and I wouldn’t have moved anywhere else.

God Bless us, everyone!

The Adventure

An adventurer stands near the top of a mountain. The only thing that separates him and the peak is a narrow ridge along a deadly cliff.

He is gripped by fear as he overlooks the next step of his adventure.

Now, he is swamped with thoughts about his adventure. Now, with a moment to rest, he realizes what he has gotten himself into.

The Past:

What did it take to get where he was… He left everything: his family, friends, home, job, and the list goes on. He used time, money, and hours of energy to save, plan and execute the steps of his adventure.

However, he didn’t ever think about this moment. He didn’t think about the fear or the hazards that have come upon him during his adventure. Ultimately, no one could possibly know the extent to which he prepared for his adventure, because, to everyone who knows him, he is simply an adventurer on the brink of conquering a mountain. But to him, he is a struggling man atop a heap of fears and challenges.

The Future:

What will become of him when he stands atop the mountain? Where will he go? Who will he be? What is the next step in his adventure, and, more importantly, what will he think, feel and perceive as these moments play out in his heart, mind and footsteps.

At least this time he has learned the importance of thinking through every aspect of his adventure. And now, for our adventurer, reaching the top of the mountain is only the beginning.

He realizes that his footsteps preceded his ability to understand his true intentions. His fears and challenges are simply misunderstandings and events that he was unprepared for.

Before he steps out along the ridge, our adventurer prepares himself mentally and emotionally for the next part of his quest. He finds resolve in his heart, reasons away his fears, and proceeds to step across the ridge…

Review: All New Square foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew

Summary:

After retiring from his career as a civil engineer and an efficiency expert, Bartholomew became a gardener and revolutionized many home gardening techniques. He wrote his first square foot gardening (SFG) book in the 70′s, had his own PBS TV show, and formed a non-profit organization to teach people about SFG all over the world. All New Square Foot Gardening has new and improved SFG techniques and methods of developing home gardens.

In a nut shell, home gardening has been modeled after industrial, or mass production, gardens. Bartholomew identifies why these techniques are inefficient and impractical for home gardening, and he suggests his own method, SFG, as an appropriate alternative.

With SFG, you can have 100% of the produce in only 20% of the space. There is no need for weeding, tilling, or plowing your soil. You can have perfect soil in your 1st season, and you only need 3 simple garden tools to maintain your garden.

It sounds too good to be true at first, but after reading the book, I have been fully converted to SFGing.

In my opinion, people who are interested in gardening should buy this book and seriously consider SFGing. Bartholomew revolutionized gardening, and after learning his methods, I personally can’t see why someone would return to the old fashioned ways of gardening.

I’m stoked to build my own SFG and try out Bartholomew’s techniques.

If you’re interested in gardening, check out this book!

Freedom

Monday, April 26th, 2 hrs outside of Calgary:

Cat and I noticed that my car (“The Beast”) was sounding a little strange.

It sounded as though the muffler, or the exhaust, from the middle of the car was acting up. Whatever the case, The Beast was a lot more noisy that it used to be.

We pulled into Calgary and decided that we’d eventually get The Beast checked out – I’d have to get it safetied anyways, since it was (obviously) insured in Manitoba and I was now going to be living in Alberta.

We decided to use the car a couple times in Calgary throughout the week. We mostly used it to get Cat to work, overall, we only used it 2 or 3 times because it sounded like it was in pretty bad shape.

Sunday, May 2nd, before Church:

Cat and I were pulling out of her driveway, driving The Beast.

We quickly realized that something drastic had happened to the car, because we could hear and feel something dragging under it. It was pretty obvious to us, at that point, that the muffler (or whatever it was) had finally fallen right out of the car and was dragging on the ground. Sure enough, part of the exhaust was hanging and dragging off the car.

Tuesday, May 4th, Cat’s place:

I slowly drove The Beast into the driveway and parked it one last time. I had taken it into a shop on Monday and got it checked out. They did an overall inspection for me to see what was wrong with the muffler, and to figure out how much it would cost to tune the car up to inspection standards. As it turned out, it would cost over $1500, so, for me, it was a write off.

Friday, May 7th:

We decided to take the car to a “Pick’n Pull”, where we could sell it and get rid of it without too much hassle.

Now The Beast is dead and gone, and I am left riding my bike around Calgary…

Voluntary simplicity just met it’s worst nightmare… Involuntary simplicity…

… bring it on.

A day in the life…

My life consists of:

Job interview: Moose McGuire’s – I got the job!

Riding bike trails: I live in Bowness, so I can easily bike to Cat’s place and to work. I’ve been riding the (numerous!) bike trails around this part of town trying to figure out the best way to get around.

Reading: I’m doing a self study through a critical thinking textbook. My academic advisor, back at school, suggested that I should have taken a Critical Thinking class. However, I did not need to take one to graduate, so I didn’t. Now I’m doing my own self study through a text I bought on Amazon in order to learn how to use my brain more efficiently.

I’m also reading a book called: All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!, by Mel Bartholomew. It’s about a gardening technique that Bartholomew invented back in the 70′s that has revolutionized home gardening. Stay tuned because I will write a review about it within the week.

Music: Now that school is over, I have been writing more music. I wrote a new folk ditty, and I’ll be continuing to write all throughout the summer months.

Moments of my life in the last month…

Calgary Bound

Cat and I drove into Calgary around 9:00 pm Monday (26th) night.

For the last two days, we’ve been busing/C-training to school and the surrounding area.

Life here has been a bit of an adventure so far.

Young Life has transformed their downtown office into a prayer room, and I took the train down there today to spend time there. It was a lot of fun. And I learned a lot about downtown Calgary too.